Central Michigan University
EN-3: Student Life

Central Michigan University has a plethora of different sustainability-based student organizations including: The Student Environmental Alliance, Take Back The Tap, Campus Grow, Collegiate Advocates for the Rights of Marine Animals, Student Advocates for Vegetarian/Veganism among others. Student Environmental Alliance: SEA is a registered student organization that dedicates itself to the enhancement of sustainability on campus, in the local community, as well as on a state and national level. SEA has worked in conjunction with Take Back The Tap to reduce the amount of water bottles used on campus. Thanks to their effort, in part, CMU now has over sixty filtered reusable water bottle-filling stations on campus. SEA has also been a part of many national sustainability summits, such as Powershift 2008 & 2009. SEA has fought for social justice issues such as the rights of migrant farm workers around the country. SEA also works closely with Facilities Management on recycling and composting efforts around campus. Take Back The Tap: TBTT is a student led organization that focuses on the sustainable use of water. TBTT has placed an extreme emphasis on education, outreach and policy reform efforts to reduce the amount of disposable water bottles are used on campus. In conjunction with SEA, TBTT has successfully influenced the installation of over sixty reusable water bottle refill stations across campus. Collegiate Advocates for the Rights of Marine Animals: CARMA is a student led organization that focuses its efforts in the advocacy of marine life. The responsible fishing, treatment, and preservation of marine animal habitats, as well as proactive outreach and education on these matters are some of CARMA's main focus at CMU. Student Advocates for Vegetarian/Veganism: SAVV is a student led organization that promotes the low impact and healthy vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. This group hosts meals, educational opportunities and community/student outreach to enhance this low impact life choice within the Central Michigan University community.

Central Michigan University is home to a program called Campus Grow. This program is designed to give students hands-on experience in local farming opportunities, while providing them inexpensive space to grow personal produce. This program works intimately with Central Michigan University's composting program. In fact, one of the original founders of Campus Grow, Christopher Venegas is also a co-founder of CMU's wildly successful composting program.

Central Michigan University hosts a program called the New Venture Competition. This program is designed to provide students who aspire to start up new business ventures with initial funds necessary to pursue their business dreams. There are many categories of New Venture awards, including local Michigan impact, Social Justice ventures, Sustainability Advancement ventures, as well as sustainable technology and engineering.

Central Michigan University hosts a Speak Up Speak Out forum once each month related to interconnected issues in Administration & Policy, Social Justice, Environmental Justice, Science, Technology & Engineering, among other topics. These forums target students, but welcome any member of the community to join and participate. Cental Michigan University also hosts guest speakers each year, many of which are influential individuals speaking on sustainability related issues. Additionally, Central Michigan University runs an entire week event centered around Earth Day. During the week, outreach, education, focus groups, political and direct action opportunities are available to students, faculty, staff and the community. CMU partners with local businesses such as Buckley's Mountainside Canoes and Mountain Town Tap Room to offer additional programming activities off campus.

Throughout the academic year, instillation art pieces such as simulated water bottle islands are set up around campus to increase student awareness. There are also instances of flash mobs and other active instillation art to raise awareness and spark curiosity about sustainability-related issues.

Central Michigan University has a top-of-the-charts Recreation, Parks, & Leisure Services department. Within this department, classes on backpacking, Leave No Trace, outdoor recreation facilitation, among others, provide students with ample opportunity to be inspired by nature, grow as sustainability-promoting professionals, as well as strengthen a sense of respect and stewardship for the natural world. This department sparked several Student-led Wilderness and Outdoor programs and clubs such as the High Adventure Club and Parks and Outdoor Recreation Coalition. These clubs/RSO's provide students with opportunities to recreate in wilderness areas, experience adventures in paddling, white water rafting, hiking, backpacking and climbing, among others, as well as participate in education, outreach, stewardship, restoration and other environmentally responsible activities all while practicing the principles of Leave No Trace Ethics.

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Central Michigan University offers many different sustainability-focused job opportunities. These jobs can be found all over campus. Students have the opportunity to work within Facilities Management, specializing in recycling, composting, green cleaning cost and impact analysis, as well as generalized inter-campus and intra-campus collaboration in regards to sustainability enhancement. Students have the opportunity to work within sustainable dining systems, where they gain hands on experience in daily sustainability monitoring tasks, sustainable purchasing, as well as food waste reduction techniques. Students have a plethora of research job opportunities within Science, Technology and Engineering in regards to sustainability advancement. For example, students within the Engineering department have the opportunity to work with Darling International, a company who specializes in converting used cooking oil into bio fuels. Students also have opportunities to receive funding in return for assisting faculty and other designated employees pursue sustainability-related feasibility studies, as well as other applied research.

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